'Ring and book' bus service coming to the Blackdowns

I AM delighted to learn that some of the gaps in bus services covering villages in Taunton Deane are going to be plugged thanks to an initiative led by my Conservative colleague Councillor John Meikle.
‘Demand responsive’ buses are being introduced and Blagdon Hill will be on one of the routes.
The route will also serve Staplehay and will link the two communities with Taunton.
The initiative has come out of a council task and finish group on sustainable transport which has been chaired by Councillor Meikle - whose, son, of course, is the Duncan Meikle who has helped to pioneer the new community hall plans for Pitminster parish.
A ‘demand responsive’ bus is one which runs on a regular route but which people can ring up and book a seat in advance if they live nearby and the bus will then detour and pick them up.
The proviso is that it will only be during certain times of the day, and also passengers have to be within a reasonable distance and the roads need to be wide enough for the bus to be able to reach them.
I am not quite sure how this is different from the Slinky Bus that Somerset County Council has been supporting, but I am sure it will be a welcome initiative.
At this stage, I am still waiting to be told just when the service will start, and who will be operating it.
The project is a partnership between Taunton Deane Borough Council and the county council.
The Deane council is putting £25,000 towards the set-up costs of scheme, which will run for three years.
Other communities which will benefit from the service include West Monkton, West Hatch, Hestercombe, and Curry Mallet.
Councillor Meikle told me: “We are beginning to infill the bus service gaps in Taunton Deane.
“This compliments a similar ‘ring and book’ magnificent voluntary community transport which Wiveliscombe have been running for some years covering 26 parish areas to the west of Taunton.
“All this positive thinking and action helps the quality of life for everybody.”
Councillor Ross Henley, who is the leader of the Deane council, told me: “I am very pleased to be able to implement the recommendation of this task and finish review.”

From Gay Pride to hippies to Pitminster straw boater all in one day

IT was a day of contrasts on Saturday for myself and my wife Julia, as I attended the annual Pitminster and Angersleigh Playing Field Association fete.
While Julia was in Plymouth for the day helping one of our clients - they organise the South West's largest Gay Pride event - I started the day at the Sunrise Celebration festival over near Tintinhull, the organisers of which are also our clients.
Having spent a few hours surrounded by several thousand people from the travelling and festival-going communities, many of whom would be described as hippies, it was a quick change of clothing and a dash across to Blagdon Hill for the annual fete, complete with straw boater.
Yes, there are hippy-types on the Blackdown Hills as well, but the Sellicks Green playing field didn't have the organic loos or the yurts or the tipis or the windmill-powered generators or the horse-drawn transport of the Sunrise Celebration.
The only thing that all three events had in common was the sweltering heat and brilliant blue sky which prevailed all day.
The Blagdon fete was a brilliant event with just about everybody in the community near and far seeming to be there.
What impressed me most was learning afterwards that something like £5,000 was raised from the fete and will be used by the charity to help maintain the playing field for the benefit of everybody.
An amazing result for a small rural community, which demonstrates how there is such a strong sense of community spirit here.
It was good to see the plans on show for the proposed new community hall and I was pleased to able to introduce the committee chairman Duncan Meikle to our Conservative Parliamentary candidate Mark Formosa when he joined me at the fete.
We enjoyed seeing so many different stalls and events being held at the fete, with Mark showing a keen interest in the dog show because he is a dog owner - while I have two cats.

• The images above show a group of Sunrise Celebration festival-goers taking part in a drumming session, and the Pitminster fete programme.